Vania



(No Model.) J. G. JACKSON 8; H. WHITCOMB.

BELT SHIFTER. No. 430,345. Patented June 17,1890.

q vdmeowa ammmtoz m 551 whom leg UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOH\ O. JACKSON AND HENRY WVHITCOMB, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYL- VANIA.

BELT-SHIFTER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 430,345, dated June 17, 1890.

Application filed August 30, 1889. Serial No. 322,408. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that we, JOHN G. JACKSON and HENRY XVHITCOMB, citizens of the United States, residing at Philadelphia, in the county of Philadelphia and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Belt-Shifters; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to those belt-shifters in which the belt is shifted upon a stationary holder instead of a loose pulley. V

The object of our device is to provide a holder which will be capable of adjustment to any desired position in relation to the driven pulley; and a still further object of it is to provide means for shifting the belt with greater facility.

With these purposes in view our invention consists in the peculiar features and combinations of parts more fully described hereinafter, and pointed out in the claims.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 represents a front view of our invention as attached to a ceiling and in proximity to the driving-pulley. Fig. 2 is a side view of the same; Fig. 3, a view of the holder when shifted to a different position from that in Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 a detached View of the holder-plate.

The reference-letter A denotes the bracket, which can be fastened to the ceiling or wall a, adjacent to the drive-shaft X, by bolts a, or other suitable means. This bracket is provided with a curved arm B, having an areshaped slot b. The drive-shaft X rotates in boxes Z upon the lower ends of hangers M. The holder-plate O is adj ustably secured to the bracket by means of the bolts 0, which pass through the arc-shaped slot 1) and holes 0 in said plate, said bolts being provided with nuts 0. This arrangement allows the holder to be adjusted to various positions relative to the driven pulley, as shown in Fig. 3. The holder iscomposed of an arcshaped plate 0 and a series of belt-receiving rollers E, mounted upon the bolts F, which bolts pass through elongated radial slots Gr in the plate 0. These elongated slots permit the receiving-rollers to be adjusted toward and from the center of the bracket, whereby they can be made to conform to pulleys of various sizes.

The belt-shifting mechanism comprises the usual horizontal shifting-bar R, which may, for convenience, in the present instance, be mounted in boxes 6 on the ends of arms f and f, the latter being cast integral with the holder-bracket A. The bar is operated by the hand-lever P, which is provided with a pawl and ratchet u t. The ratchet u is secured to the ceiling to. In order to assist 1n throwing the belt more quickly onto the driving-pulley, an arm Q is secured to the shifting-bar R and extends out opposite the pulley-bracket, and has upon its branches q the laterally-extending fingers r astride the belt. A coil-spring s, which encircles the bar R, 1s provided to assist in more quickly throwing the belt from the rollers E onto the pulley W.

The preferred mode of constructing our device having been set forth we will now proceed to describe its operation.

The holder is secured to any suitable support in such position relative to the drivingpulley W and its shaft X that the beltY can be as readily shifted as upon a loose pulley. When it is desired to stop the driven pulley, the shifting-bar is drawn back by the lever P and the arm Q, and the fingers 7' take hold of the belt and throw it off onto the receivingrollers E, whereupon the spring-pawl t will snap into the ratchet u and hold the handlever back against the tension of the retract ing-spring s. In throwing the belt back upon the pulley the reverse operation is performed with the assistance of the retracting-spring.

It is evident that many slight changes which might suggest themselves to a skilled mechanic could be resorted to without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention; hence we do not limit ourselves to the precise construction shown.

lVhat we claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a belt-shifter, abracket having an arcshaped slot, a plate provided with a series of rollers or supports arranged in the arc of a circle, and means whereby the s adapted to be adjusted .upports are secured within said slot, said plate being provided with radial slots, and a series of rollers having bolts adj ustably secured within the radial slots, all arranged and adapted to operate as described.

In testimony whereof We affix our signatures in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN C. JACKSON. HENRY WVHITCOMB.

Witnesses:

GEO. C. BOWKER, GEO. W. CASCADEN. 

